SAN FRANCISCO -- After winning six elimination games to reach the World Series, the Giants said they wanted to take an easier route this time around. They got off to a crushing start, making it look easy against the best pitcher in baseball.

Pablo Sandoval homered in his first three at-bats and Barry Zito was dominant again as the Giants cruised past Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers 8-3 in the first game of the World Series.

Verlander, the reigning American League MVP, had given up just two runs in his first three postseason starts. Sandoval and the Giants doubled that number in the first three innings. With two outs in the first inning, Sandoval crushed

an elevated 95 mph fastball over the center field wall, becoming just the sixth player to homer on a 0-2 pitch from Verlander.

The Giants had another two-out rally in third, and it started with a play that confirmed any suspicions one might have that something special is at work at AT&T Park. Angel Pagan hit a grounder to third that bounced off the bag and ricocheted into left field for a double. Marco Scutaro followed with a single to center, scoring Pagan.

Sandoval stunned Verlander again a batter later, lining another 95 mph fastball into the seats, this time in left field. Verlander, who had only allowed one multi-homer game all season, stood on the mound and muttered 'wow' before turning to the Tigers' dugout and frowning and shaking his head.

With his second blast, Sandoval became the first player since Andruw Jones in 1996 to hit two homers in the first three innings of a World Series Game. He wasn't done yet, but first Zito would make a little history of his own.

Zito added to Verlander's pain in the fourth with a two-out RBI single to left on a 97 mph fastball. Zito, a .097 career hitter, has an RBI in his last two starts, helping make the Giants the first team in MLB history to get an RBI from the starting pitcher in four straight postseason games.

Sandoval made more history in the fifth, hitting an Al Alburquerque pitch out to center to become the fourth player in history to homer three times in a World Series game. The stunning list includes Hall of Famers Babe Ruth (twice) and Reggie Jackson and future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols, but none of the previous three players pulled off the feat in their first three plate appearances.

Sandoval made some AT&T Park history, too. The only previous three-homer game at AT&T Park came when the Los Angeles Dodgers' Kevin Elster did it on April 11, 2000. That was the very first game at AT&T Park.

Zito earned a Game 1 start with a brilliant outing in Game 5 of the NLCS, and he was nearly as good Wednesday night. Zito limited the Tigers to one run on six hits over 5 2/3 innings, twice getting help with diving catches from left fielder Gregor Blanco.

The Giants tacked on two more runs in the seventh, with Sandoval contributing a scorching single to center. Sandoval fell short in his bid to become the first player in MLB history to homer four times in a World Series game, but that hardly mattered on this night.

Since falling behind 3-1 in the NLCS, the Giants have won four straight games, outscoring opponents 28-4.